Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 209: 51st Floor, The Forest of Mystical Beings (6)
Taesan moved his wings.
As he adjusted to the unfamiliar sensation, his body lightly hovered in the air. Before he could attempt flying across the chasm, he needed to get used to the new sensation. Slowly, Taesan maneuvered his body with the wings.
“It’s not like flapping your wings to fly.”
The wings acted more like a propulsion system. By focusing his mind on the wings and gathering his will, he could glide through the air.
“It’s tricky.”
Taesan flew around the area, but his movements were awkward, as if he were a child learning to ride a bike, constantly on the verge of crashing.
[It’s the power of the fairies, after all. Unlike magic or dark arts, it’s a force never meant for humans. So, of course, it’ll be difficult to master.]
Taesan concentrated his energy into the wings.
Suddenly, his body accelerated forward, nearly crashing into the wall before he hurriedly touched down on the ground.
His body scraped against the floor as he barely managed to land. Taesan let out a chuckle.
“I guess skills can’t be used.”
He had tried to activate [Landing], but it hadn’t worked, forcing him to use his feet. This meant that even abilities like attack nullification might not activate under these conditions.
“I’ll need to get used to this.”
Taesan continued practicing with the wings.
After repeated practice, he realized that the wings were akin to a sports car.
If he moved slowly and cautiously, control wasn’t difficult. However, when he tried to reach a certain speed, the wings would suddenly accelerate, making control much more challenging.
The key issue was the sudden change in speed.
[You have activated Mental Acceleration.]
Once again, he moved his wings. With his mind accelerated, the world around him seemed to slow down.
As his wings began to exceed a certain speed and attempted to accelerate, Taesan focused intently.
*Whoosh!*
He altered his direction. Concentrating fully, he tried to control the direction.
He veered left just before crashing into the wall, then left again before hitting another wall.
After repeating these movements, Taesan returned to his original position.
“This should be enough.”
Although he wasn’t fully satisfied, it seemed sufficient to clear the immediate quest.
Taesan spread his wings and launched himself toward the endless chasm.
*Whoosh!*
His body soared through the air.
This wasn’t just a jump or a midair step; he was genuinely flying.
*Flap!*
He accelerated his wings, quickly closing the distance to the destination.
As the target approached, Taesan forced himself to stop.
*Boom!*
His sudden halt caused the air around him to explode.
[First Quest Completed.]
[Second Quest.]
[Use the fairy wings to cross the chasm and reach the next point.]
Another chasm appeared before Taesan.
This time, there were walls scattered throughout the chasm, seemingly placed to hinder his path.
This hidden room on the 51st floor, created by a dragon that held mysteries within the forest, provided the fairy wings as a gift to those who discovered it.
However, to fully obtain these wings, one had to pass through a series of quests, each increasing in difficulty.
The more quests one completed, the better the wings they received.
“Lee Taeyeon said she only managed to clear up to the third stage.”
She had stopped there, deeming it impossible to go further. The wings she obtained had no distance limit and lasted for an hour.
Even at the third stage, the wings were that powerful.
Taesan kicked off the ground.
Spreading his wings, he flew across the chasm.
Just as he was about to collide with a wall, he veered sharply to avoid it. Another wall, previously hidden, came into view.
Taesan quickly maneuvered his wings, descending below the wall.
Then he shot upward, landing at the next destination.
“This isn’t too difficult.”
[Second Quest Completed.]
[Third Quest.]
[Use the fairy wings to cross the chasm and reach the next point.]
Taesan looked at the next chasm.
It appeared to be just like the first one—an open space that seemed easy to cross.
But he knew better. Concentrating, Taesan kicked off the ground.
Tap.
He spread his wings and flew quickly toward the next destination.
As he soared, something shot toward him. Taesan narrowly dodged.
“Arrows?”
These weren’t ordinary arrows; they were incredibly fast, difficult for even him to avoid.
*Whizz!*
The air whistled as multiple arrows flew toward him simultaneously.
Taesan quickly changed direction, but as soon as he moved, another arrow came from that direction. He dodged again, only to face more incoming arrows.
He soon realized that the arrows were targeting him every time he moved.
In other words, he had to keep changing direction to dodge the arrows and reach the destination.
“This is tricky.”
Taesan focused. The wings acted like a supercar, accelerating once they reached a certain speed. Controlling them became difficult at that point.
But Taesan planned to use this to his advantage.
*Whoosh!*
His wings flared, and his body shot forward. As he accelerated, arrows came flying toward him.
Taesan suddenly veered upward.
Just before hitting the ceiling, he surged forward.
*Whizz!*
Arrows whizzed by as Taesan veered left, moving not in curves but in sharp, straight lines.
He chose to maintain speed by changing direction rapidly, and it worked. The arrows failed to hit him and disappeared into the distance.
Tap.
Taesan landed at the next destination.
[Third Quest Completed.]
[Fourth Quest.]
[Use the fairy wings to cross the chasm and reach the next point.]
Taesan looked at the next chasm.
Like the previous one, it appeared empty.
But by now, anyone who had come this far would know better. There were hidden dangers.
Lee Taeyeon had given up at this point.
She had nearly died during the third chasm and had barely survived. Realizing she couldn’t go any further, she had stopped there.
Now, Taesan would test whether her assessment had been correct.
He launched himself into the air, heading for the chasm. As soon as he left the ground, a loud noise erupted behind him.
It was the sound of something massive scraping against the ground as it approached.
Taesan clicked his tongue.
“Damn it.”
*Boom!*
He accelerated. A terrifying presence rapidly closed in from behind.
He glanced back.
A massive wall was barreling toward him, as if trying to crush him.
*Crash!*
Then, giant boulders began arcing through the air toward him, accompanied by arrows aiming at Taesan.
“She made the right choice.”
If Lee Taeyeon had been greedy, she would have died here.
Taesan moved. Like in the third quest, he dodged the projectiles in straight lines, but each abrupt movement allowed the wall to close in on him.
He had to minimize unnecessary movements.
Taesan assessed the trajectory and number of incoming projectiles and accelerated.
He shot forward, heading straight rather than veering left or right.
*Boom!*
He narrowly dodged the incoming boulders. When dodging seemed impossible, he raised his arm to block.
*Crunch!*
[You have taken 2,503 damage.]
In this sealed room, skills were inactive, so attack nullification didn’t work.
Minimizing the damage, he pressed on. As he moved, he became more adept at controlling the wings.
*Whoosh!*
He narrowly avoided the swarm of boulders.
The wall behind him was almost close enough to touch.
He pushed his wings to the limit, accelerating to a speed that left the projectiles behind and landed at the destination.
“Phew.”
[Fourth Quest Completed.]
[Fifth Quest.]
[Use the fairy wings to defeat the enemy above the chasm.]
Taesan shook his arms. He had taken some damage, but it wasn’t severe.
As the description indicated, a small dragon hovering in the air awaited him above the next chasm.
Taesan immediately kicked off the ground.
The dragon roared as it charged at him.
*Shraaa!*
*Clang!*
The dragon wasn’t particularly strong. It might have posed a challenge to an average 51st-floor adventurer, but to Taesan, it was no threat.
The purpose of this quest seemed to be to defeat the enemy using the wings, which one should now be adept at handling.
Taesan took full advantage of this, focusing on mastering the wing movements rather than quickly defeating the dragon. The longer the battle continued, the smoother his movements became.
*Crunch.*
Once he judged there was nothing more to gain, Taesan finished off the dragon.
[Quest Completed.]
[You have obtained the special activation skill: Perfect Fairy Wings.]
Taesan landed and checked the skill.
[Special Activation Skill: Perfect Fairy Wings]
[Mana Cost: 50]
[Proficiency: 15%]
[Perfect Fairy Wings. Can be used at will with no restriction on duration or distance. Currently, movement is limited to straight lines.]
“Nice.”
A smile spread across Taesan’s face.
As he had hoped, clearing the fifth stage had rewarded him with wings that had no time or distance limitations.
Thanks to the proficiency gained from clearing the quests, the wings already had a high level of proficiency upon acquisition.
As his proficiency increased, the wings would become more maneuverable, eventually allowing him to move as freely as Lee Taeyeon had.
Satisfied with his reward, Taesan exited the hidden room.
[You have activated Perfect Fairy Wings.]
His wings spread wide.
He flew through the forest, slightly slower than when he ran, but not by much.
Now, only one task remained: finding the unicorn.
Taesan began a thorough search of the forest.
As the gremlin had mentioned, the unicorn didn’t show itself easily.
He spent nearly two days scouring the forest but couldn’t locate it. Knowing the final quest wouldn’t be easy, Taesan patiently continued his search.
Finally, after another day passed, he spotted the unicorn.
In a small, serene glade with a blue glow, a horse with a white horn was drinking from a spring.
[A Unicorn has appeared.]
The unicorn, after drinking for a moment, suddenly raised its head and looked directly at Taesan.
*Neigh!*
The unicorn whinnied and bolted, quickly disappearing from sight. Taesan frowned.
“What the…?”
This wasn’t what he had expected.
Not wanting to let it escape, Taesan quickly gave chase.
*Neigh!*
The unicorn cried out. As its horn glowed white, a rain of light began to fall from the sky.
Taesan activated his White Rune Shield to block the light as he pursued the unicorn.
“It’s running away?”
[Of course it’s running. Did you think it would just let you catch it?]
“Well, that’s what I was told.”
Lee Taeyeon had claimed that the unicorn was the easiest of all. She had said the unicorn appeared before her, and instead of running away, it lingered nearby, making it easy to capture.
But the unicorn before Taesan had no intention of being caught.
*Neigh!*
It was even mocking him as it ran.
[Ah… That’s because it’s a unicorn.]
Taesan chuckled.
“That explains it.”
[Yeah, unless you’re lucky, it’s a tough catch. It took me a full week to finally get it.]
Though it seemed the unicorn wouldn’t be as easy to catch as he had hoped, Taesan wasn’t worried.
[You have activated Mephisto’s Black Lightning.]
*Boom!*
A bolt of black lightning struck the unicorn, causing it to momentarily falter.
*Neigh!*
The unicorn screamed, shaking its horn. A wave of white energy radiated from the horn, enveloping Taesan.
[You have been affected by Slow. All actions are slowed.]
[You have activated Adventurer’s Will.]
The debuff vanished as Taesan closed in on the unicorn. Startled, the unicorn picked up speed.
[You have activated Decarabia’s Distorted Flora.]
*Rumble!*
Roots sprang up from the ground, blocking the unicorn’s path.
The unicorn used its horn to break through the roots, crying out in frustration.
*Neigh!*
The unicorn’s cry echoed throughout the forest. Soon, trees began to rise, blocking Taesan’s way.
But Taesan remained unfazed.
[You have activated Honorable Duel.]
*Thunk!*
The trees blocking his path were knocked aside as Taesan barreled through.
[You have activated Deer Walking the Wind.]
[You have activated Small Ember.]
Wind carrying flames spread in all directions.
As the forest burned, the unicorn’s hiding places dwindled. It stomped the ground in desperation.
*Neigh!*
The unicorn leaped into the air, seemingly relieved as it soared above the trees. It appeared confident that Taesan, being human, wouldn’t be able to reach it.
[You have activated Perfect Fairy Wings.]
With a flap of his wings, Taesan launched himself into the sky.
Seeing Taesan closing in, the unicorn panicked and twisted its body in midair. But Taesan expertly maneuvered his wings, pursuing the unicorn closely.
[You have activated Acceleration.]
His body sped up midair.
The unicorn accelerated as well, but Taesan was slowly gaining on it. Realizing it couldn’t escape, the unicorn began to dart erratically, moving in ways Taesan’s straight-line flight couldn’t match.
*Neigh!*
Once more, the unicorn mocked Taesan, but he remained expressionless as he activated his next set of skills.
[You have activated Particle Diffusion.]
[You have activated Frost Arrows.]
[You have activated Tracking.]
A barrage of ice arrows and particles shot toward the unicorn.
The unicorn, which had been mocking Taesan, now frantically dodged the attacks. With both Taesan and his magical assaults on its tail, its movements became increasingly erratic.
Then, the unicorn moved exactly where Taesan wanted it.
He seized the moment.
[You have activated Random Blink.]
In an instant, Taesan teleported directly above the unicorn.
Hovering just above the unicorn, he slammed down, pinning the creature.
The unicorn struggled desperately, but Taesan pressed down hard.
*Crash!*
They hit the ground with a thunderous impact, creating a crater.
Taesan delivered the final blow.
[You have defeated the Unicorn.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your spiritual power has increased.]
[You have obtained the Unicorn’s White Horn.]
[Quest Completed. Return to the gremlin for your reward and directions to the 52nd floor.]